Airport projects focus on safety and service

That’s the mantra at Nanaimo Airport with three significant infrastructure projects under way. They’re designed to meet the needs of the travellers and businesses that depend on the Central Island’s airport of choice.

The work includes expansion of the air terminal building and the runway apron, and construction of a new fire hall.

“These projects help us fulfill three critical priorities: regional economic development; economic stimulus through infrastructure construction; and meeting escalating demand for air service through the next decade,” says Mike Hooper, the airport President and CEO.

The projects also will help ease congestion and enhance safety and customer service. You can follow them on Twitter at @FlyYCD.

Air Terminal Building

Passenger volume that has more than doubled in the last five years makes expansion vital. With Infrastructure Canada investment, Nanaimo Airport has focused initially on enlarging the departure lounge. Work will go to tender this fall. Ground breaking and construction begins in early 2018.

The lounge expansion is the first step in a 20-year development plan for the terminal. Work will be done in phases, as traffic increases and funding becomes available. Forecasts call for 450,000 annual passengers by 2020.

Runway apron

Thanks to investment from the BC Air Access Program, Nanaimo Airport’s northern runway apron is expanding. The work is critical to the goal of reducing congestion and improving safety while attracting more airline partners.

“Several times a day all three aircraft parking positions are being used simultaneously,” Hooper explains. “For us to continue to grow air services, we need to expand the apron to allow four aircraft to be at the terminal.”

The additional space is also needed for large private aircraft.

Fire hall

Safety is Nanaimo Airport’s top priority. That’s why a new fire hall — built with investment from Transport Canada’s Airports Capital Assistance Program — will soon open. With the building exterior nearly complete, the airport firetruck will move in by mid-summer.